WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Monday, July 17, 2017 – For the third year in a row, the Des Moines Menace is visiting Michigan for the Premier Development League playoffs.

The Michigan Bucks will once again host the Central Conference’s championship weekend inside Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac. And, for the third straight year, the Bucks will welcome the Menace, the Thunder Bay Chill and K-W United FC.

A year after Des Moines’ season ended with a 2-0 loss to Michigan in the conference championship, the Menace will face the Bucks in a Friday-night semifinal. Each of the Menace’s last three playoff runs ended against the eventual PDL champion: Michigan in 2014 (at Valley Stadium) and 2016 and K-W United in 2015.

The 2017 Menace clinched the franchise’s 15th postseason berth by defeating Chicago FC United, 2-0, in Saturday’s season finale at Valley Stadium. Michigan – the Central Conference’s champion for the third consecutive year – makes its 20th playoff appearance.

Des Moines is 15-15 all-time in the playoffs, with the last two victories coming against K-W (Kitchener-Waterloo in southern Ontario, Canada) – a shootout thriller after 120 scoreless minutes in 2014 and a 5-1 result last year.

Wins on Friday and Saturday would give the Menace a shot at hosting a PDL semifinal on July 29; the league’s championship is a week later, on Aug. 5.

7:30 p.m. EDT: Friday’s winners battle for a spot in the PDL’s final four.

ABOUT THE MENACE: The Des Moines Menace provides the highest level of soccer in Iowa. In its 24th season, the Menace men’s team competes in the Premier Development League (PDL). In its sixth season, the Menace women’s team is part of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL). With loyal support, the Menace men’s and women’s teams play their home games at the Valley Stadium in West Des Moines to provide family-fun entertainment. The Menace organization provides the growth of the game of soccer in Iowa with their youth soccer programs, including Junior Menace (ages 3-9), Menace Youth Academy (ages six and older), and tournaments, camps and clinics.